Udaipur in a day

  Udaipur, India
Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Udaipor is easily the most affluent place we've seen yet!  Having said that, once you leave the opulent hotels and palace complex, there are very few nice structures and the comparatively great roads would be considered in relative disrepair back home. 

This cow was on his way in for the day

Turns out the undeniable difference that Udaipur exudes is a result of the area never falling under foreign control.  The Moghuls never made it this far and made a treaty with the kingdom while the British didn't bother trying to defeat them.

This morning we told our guide to deviate from his plans and take us to a few places that would give us a feel for life outside of the tourist bubble.  First stop, a tuberculosis hospital which is infamous throughout the region.    We visited a few of the wards and I kept completely quiet as my mom asked questions of the doctor who showed us around.  Turns out TB is one of diseases she does drug research for and I don't think the doctor had been asked so many questions since he graduated from med school, if he ever did.  The conditions were poor at best, but at least everything was paid for by the government.

Next we visited both a public (they call private schools public for some reason) and government (our version of public) schools to compare and contrast the two. 

The public school

Just like the incredible divide between "classes", the difference between the two is larger than you can ever imagine.  The private school has actual class rooms and the kids are taking tests with all sorts of labs that are fully stocked with chemicals and proper equipment.  Note that the conditions probably mirror that of an inner city public school in the States, but we realized how amazing these kids had it when we stopped off at the government school.  The government "school" was more like a playground with about 8 open air rooms around the edge.  The "teachers" were all sitting together talking while the kids were just hanging out and generally not doing too much.  One class was in session but even they were more interested in seeing what all the commotion was about than having an actual lesson.  Apparently not many tourists stop to check out the school situation because we were the coolest thing since sliced bread to these kids.  The problem probably starts with the parents for many of these kids as they are instructed to go to school for breakfast and then to leave to beg and/or work for money.

After this eye opening morning we were given a tour of the main lake in the city via a small motor boat. 

On our boat ride, stylish Mom!

Nothing too exciting but the views of the men and women bathing in the less-than-clean water were alarming. 

The Queen's gardens

They were washing clothes and taking baths in water that I wouldn't even test to see what the temperature was like.
The Palace Museum was pretty engaging.  My favorite part was the dueling Elephants tug of war game that they used to play, but has been banned due to animal cruelty laws as of late.  The actual buildings were in amazing shape but probably a result of constant repairs and upkeep. 

And in the middle of the lake!

The region's royal family is one of the wealthiest and they are actually referred to as Maharanis and not Maharajas to distinguish their power.

The ornate rooms of the Udaipur Palace

We end the day with a long walk to dinner and back.  Dinner was at a great restaurant overlooking the lake and the city.

Our restaurant... it was so romantic!